VIDEO: Easton shooting victim remembered at memorial service

Vicki-Ann Downing

Saturday

Oct 30, 2010 at 12:01 AMOct 30, 2010 at 4:52 PM

On a grand stage alternately lit in green and blue, with stirring gospel choirs, video tributes, the heartfelt memories of friends and a rousing sermon, the family of the late Danroy Thomas Henry Jr. sent out a clear message to the world on Friday afternoon. Police officers’ bullets may have taken the life of their son under disputed circumstances in a New York suburb on Oct. 17, but as speaker after speaker emphasized at his memorial service, Henry was a young man with a purpose who embraced Christianity, loved football and family and was bound for success.

On a grand stage alternately lit in green and blue, with stirring gospel choirs, video tributes, the heartfelt memories of friends and a rousing sermon, the family of the late Danroy Thomas Henry Jr. sent out a clear message to the world on Friday afternoon.

Police officers’ bullets may have taken the life of their son under disputed circumstances in a New York suburb on Oct. 17, but as speaker after speaker emphasized at his memorial service, Henry was a young man with a purpose who embraced Christianity, loved football and family and was bound for success.

“DJ was not the fastest or the strongest” football player, said Jim Artz, his coach at Oliver Ames High School in Easton. “His biggest attribute was his heart and his desire to succeed He was a young man with a heart of gold, a loving son and brother, a best friend who would go out of his way to brighten someone’s day. This is the DJ I knew and loved.”

The memorial service, held on what would have been Henry’s 21st birthday, filled the ballroom of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in the city’s Seaport district. Organizers set out 1,500 chairs. When those were full, they added 500 more – and still people stood, for a service that lasted more than two hours and 30 minutes.

Video slide shows displayed family photographs of Henry sleeping in Oshkosh overalls and covered in soapy foam in the bathtub. A football bearing his No. 12 from Pace University was on display under glass near his helmet. People signed an 8-foot banner instead of a condolence book.

But in the crowd, seated among Pace University students and friends from Easton, Brockton and elsewhere, were Charlie Baker, the Republican candidate for governor, and Stephen Lynch, the U.S. congressman.

Hymns from the Berklee College of Music’s Reverence Gospel Choir and the Jubilee Christian Church’s Worship Team had people on their feet and clapping.

And they wept quietly when Henry’s uncle Kevin Murphy of Brockton played guitar and sang a simple song he wrote in his nephew’s memory.

Murphy was one of the few to reference the circumstances under which Henry died, and then only briefly.

“Hey DJ, I can’t believe they took you out that way,” Murphy sang. “What makes them do the evil that they do – how the hell could they disrespect you?”

Fred Henry, another uncle, spoke in uniform. He is about to become a general in the U.S. Army.

“DJ caught a short pass in his final game of life,” Fred Henry said. “The blockers were not his teammates but angels from above. With the angels blocking for DJ, I can see him racing down the sidelines and into the end zone. When he reached the end zone, he entered into the kingdom of heaven.”

After Bishop Gideon Thompson of the Jubilee Christian Church spoke about the need to “build a life that matters,” Henry’s family took the stage, hugging one another tightly and taking turns speaking before exiting to the singing of “Happy Birthday.”

Kyle Henry, a senior at Oliver Ames High School, held to his chest the wooden box that contained his brother’s remains. He talked about DJ’s love of clothes and shoes – especially a $400 pair by Gucci – and of the summer nights they spent catching up in the kitchen at the end of their separate days.

The family printed blue and yellow programs for the service and matching buttons with a photograph of Henry and his number, 12.

Waiting for the service to begin, 20-year-old Nicholas Barrows of Easton called Henry’s death “a damn shame.”

“I shouldn’t be at his funeral,” Barrows said. “DJ really didn’t deserve to die To see everyone walking around with his face on pins, it breaks my heart.”

Vicki-Ann Downing can be reached at vdowning@enterprisenews.com.

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